Starpharma scores another multinational

Starpharma has signed a collaborative research and commercialisation deal with Elanco, the animal health division of Eli Lilly.

While terms were not disclosed, the deal is another boost to the Melbourne company, which has a partnership with another multinational, Durex condom manufacturer SSL, as well as with Siemens, EMD Merck, Stiefel Laboratories, Unilever, Qiagen and Sigma Aldrich.

The SSL deal involves Starpharma’s lead product, the microbicide VivaGel. The new deal with Elanco is based on the company’s main technology platform, dendrimers, highly defined nano-particles that can be used as drug delivery agents as well as drugs themselves, as in the case of VivaGel.

Under the deal, Starpharma will receive revenue from research fees as well as milestone payments and royalties on sales if products make it to market. The company said in a statement that the collaboration will involve developing new animal health products with enhanced properties using the dendrimer technology.